Chapter 16 Section 2 Collection of Books in the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties
The establishment of the Sui Dynasty ended a century and a half of long-term confrontation between the North and the South.Yang Jian, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, abolished the nine-rank Zhongzheng system since the Wei and Jin Dynasties in the third year of Kaihuang (583 A.D.), ending the monopoly of official careers by the powerful and noble families.During the reign of Emperor Yangdi of the Sui Dynasty, the imperial examination began to select scholars.This system promoted the expansion of the intellectual class and directly promoted the development of book collection.
According to the "Sui Shu·Jing Ji Zhi", there were only more than 15,000 volumes in the national collection at the beginning of the Sui Dynasty, all of which were left over from the Northern Qi Dynasty and the Northern Zhou Dynasty.In the third year of Kaihuang's reign, Niu Hong, the secretary supervisor, made a memorial requesting the imperial court to "dispatch envoys to search for different editions; for each volume, a piece of silk will be rewarded."In the ninth year of Emperor Kaihuang (589 A.D.), the Sui army destroyed the Chen Dynasty in the south, and received another batch of books. After checking and sorting out, they copied the original and copy of the original and the copy, and kept them in the inner palace respectively. With the secretary province, there are more than 30,000 volumes in total.In the first year of Daye (605 A.D.), Emperor Sui Yang succeeded to the throne. He attached great importance to the book industry. According to the records of "Sui Shu·Jing Ji Zhi", he first ordered to increase the number of copies of books, and ordered to write 50 copies of each book. .Secondly, a large number of books were stored in the east and west chambers of the Guanwen Hall in the palace in Luoyang, the eastern capital.Two volumes A and B (classics and history) are stored in the east chamber, and two volumes C and D (zi and collection) are stored in the west chamber.Two cultural relics warehouses were also built behind the Guanwen Hall, which were called platforms at that time.The east side is called Miaokai Terrace, where historical sites are collected; the west side is called Shiji Terrace, where ancient paintings are collected.In addition, Taoist scriptures and Buddhist scriptures are collected in the palace.The above-mentioned management methods are like the management by category and sub-library of modern libraries, which are of great practical value.Thirdly, the books in the collection are classified according to the quality of the books. The method is to divide the books into three grades. The top grade has red glazed scrolls, the middle grade has black and red glazed scrolls, and the low grade has black lacquer scrolls.This difference is just like the library divides books into rare books and ordinary books today.There is also a large collection of books in the Jiaze Hall in Chang'an Palace, the capital of the Sui Dynasty.Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty carried out a work of de-duplication and old-fashioned collection of books, and he ordered his secretary Jian Liu (上qiao下吉) [bianbian] to preside over it.Liu (shangqiaoxiaji) selected more than 37,000 volumes from the collection of Jiazedian in Chang'an, and they were called Zhengyushu (meaning the compiled emperor's books).Since Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty lived in Luoyang, the eastern capital, part of the collection was also placed in the Guanwen Hall of the Eastern Capital.The Sui Dynasty attached great importance to the collection of books, collecting 370,000 volumes in just a few decades, exceeding any previous dynasty.
The buildings and equipment of the reading rooms of the emperors of the Sui Dynasty were very advanced, and the emperor's reading room in front of the Guanwen Hall in the Eastern Capital during the reign of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was particularly sophisticated. "General examination of literature, classics and classics, general narrative" records:
In front of Guanwen Hall are fourteen study rooms, the windows, mattresses, and cabinets are extremely precious.There are square doors in every three rooms, with brocade curtains hanging on them, and there are two flying immortals on them, and they are used outdoors and in the ground.In the Emperor Xing's study room, some officials walked forward with the incense burner, and when they practiced the opportunity, they flew down, closed the curtain and went up, and the doors and cabinets were opened by themselves.When the emperor comes out, it will be closed again.As can be seen from the above quotations, the reading room is operated mechanically, and the stepper is lowered and the curtains are pulled up, and the doors of each room and the door of the bookcase in the reading room are automatically opened.When the person leaves, it is closed again.More than 1,400 years ago, such a reading room was one of the best in the world.
At the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, our country's collection of books suffered heavy losses.In the thirteenth year of Daye (AD 617), when Emperor Sui Yang traveled to Jiangdu (now Yangzhou), he brought a large number of Zhengyu books used by the emperor. The ship carrying the books sank midway, and most of the books were lost.The remaining books were also lost after Emperor Sui Yang was killed.In the early Tang Dynasty, in the fifth year of Emperor Gaozu Wude (AD 622), books from Guanwen Temple in Luoyang, the eastern capital, and other places were shipped to Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, via the Yellow River. But two tenths.At this time, more than half of the more than 300,000 volumes of books in the Sui Dynasty had been lost.
In the early Tang Dynasty, following the system of the previous generation, the secretary supervisor was in charge of the book collection, and there were two secretary supervisors to assist the secretary supervisor and the secretary Cheng to manage the daily work.There are four secretary clerks in charge of the books of A, B, C, and D (four libraries);Large-scale school books can be added at any time.In addition, there are eight people who are in charge of the collection and cashier of the Sikushu.There are also regular script writers, paper crafters, decorators, pen crafters and several others.
At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, great importance was attached to the selection of secretaries and supervisors. Most of the people selected were famous scholars with profound knowledge and high moral character, such as Wei Zheng, Yu Shinan, Yan Shigu and so on.Among the officials of the Secretary Province, Secretary Lang is from the sixth rank, and the school secretary is from the ninth rank. Although the status is very low, because of the conditions for reading the national collection and the opportunity to be close to the emperor, the official career is great. The position is still yearned for by scholars.In fact, many famous officials in the Tang Dynasty were selected from here, such as Zhang Shuo and Zhang Jiuling are examples.In the fourteenth year of Zhenyuan (798 A.D.) of Emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty, Bai Juyi was awarded the Secretary of the Provincial School as a Jinshi.During his tenure he wrote poetry:
This little poem reflects the life of the school secretary in the Tang Dynasty.
The national collection of books in the Tang Dynasty was mainly placed in three libraries: Hongwen Museum, History Museum and Jixian Academy.
In the early Tang Dynasty, the Wenguan was established following the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. The original purpose was to recruit scholars for consultation.In the fourth year of Tang Gaozu Wude (AD 621), Xiuwenguan was established in Menxia Province, which was later renamed Hongwenguan, and 30 children of the royal family, the first rank of scattered officials, and the third rank of Beijing officials were recruited as bachelors and direct scholars. Their main task was to "master Correct pictures and books in detail, teach students."In addition, there are a number of Xiaoshulang and regular script writers, and two Dianshu are responsible for the collection and cashier of books.During the reign of Empress Wu Zetian (685-688 A.D.), she served as the prime minister and consular affairs, and was called the "master of Hongwen Museum".
In the third year of Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan (629 A.D.), it was established to compile the annals of the Five Dynasties of Liang, Chen, Northern Qi, Zhou, and Sui.In addition to a large number of books and archives that need to be referred to when compiling history, there are also 3,682 volumes of related materials such as national history, "Records", and "Life Notes".The History Museum is supervised by the prime minister to compile history books.The management of books is under the responsibility of the four Dianshu.
In the 11th and 12th years of Emperor Xuanzong's Kaiyuan (723 A.D.), Lizheng Academy was set up in Chang'an and Luoyang respectively. In the 13th year of Kaiyuan, it was renamed Jixian Academy. The name of the official, the academy set up editing, collation, proofreading, orthographic and other officials, as well as copyists and decorators.
The main tasks of Jixian Academy are: (1) publishing and compiling ancient and modern scriptures; (2) collecting lost books from all over the world; (3) visiting talents and recruiting talents; (4) writing books; Books and so on.Jixian Academy was the largest institution engaged in book collection in the Tang Dynasty.
During the process of establishing Jixian Academy, there was a debate: Xu Jian (known as Lu Jian in some books) believed that there were many scholars in Jixian Academy, and the expenses and meals were too high, which was extravagant and not beneficial to the country, so there was no need to establish it. .However, Zhongshu ordered Zhang Shuo to believe that "the sage respects Confucianism and Daoism, lectures in person, publishes correct books, and extends scholars in detail... The cost is small, and the benefit is great. Xu Zi's words are so narrow" ("Old Tang Book·Zhang") "Legends").Xuanzong affirmed Zhang Shuo's opinion, and ordered him to be the scholar Zhiyuan and in charge of Jixian Academy.
The Tang Dynasty received more than 89,000 volumes and more than 14,400 books from the Sui Dynasty.During the Zhenguan period of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, under the impetus of Wei Zheng, Yu Shinan, Yan Shigu and others who successively served as secretaries and supervisors, the government sent people to various places to collect books.Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty also issued an edict to borrow and copy the country's "magical books" from the people.In the fifth year of Kaiyuan (717 A.D.), Ma Huaisu, a bachelor and secretary supervisor, was appointed as the "book repair envoy" to preside over the sorting and copying of books in Luoyang.After the death of Ma Huaisu in the second year, Yuan Xingchong was sent to act as secretary and supervisor.In the ninth year of Kaiyuan (721 A.D.), the sorting was completed, and 200 volumes of "Four Books of Qunshu" were compiled, with 2,655 books and 48,169 volumes.The bibliography is divided into four parts: Classics, History, Zi, and Ji. There are general prefaces, class prefaces and explanations of each book, which completely record the collection of books at that time.
The batch of books sorted out by Yuan Xingchong and others have original copies, which are stored in Chang'an and Luoyang respectively.Both sets are divided into four libraries according to the four parts of classics, history, zi, and collections, so they are called "Sikushu".On August 14th in the sixth year of Kaiyuan (718 A.D.), Xuanzong said, "All the officials entered the east corridor of Qianyuan Hall to read books, and all of them were amazed."
After this reorganization, new books were continuously added to the collection. The prosperity of Kaiyuan was the time when the national collection of books was the most prosperous in the Tang Dynasty. According to "New Tang Book·Yiwenzhi", the four books recorded in Kaiyuan totaled 53,915 volumes. One copy, totaling 107,830 volumes.Among them, there are 28,469 volumes of works written by scholars in the Tang Dynasty.According to the "Old Tang Book·Jing Ji Zhi", there are 9,500 volumes of Buddhist scriptures and Taoist scriptures.From the beginning of the Tang Dynasty to the Anshi Rebellion in the 14th year of Tianbao (755 A.D.), the number of books increased rapidly. There were only 37,000 volumes of official books of Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty, and 82,384 volumes before the Anshi Rebellion.
The collection of books in the Tang Dynasty, after the Anshi Rebellion, "the old books of Qian and Yuan Dynasties were lost and scattered."After the rebellion, although the collection of books has been restored, it cannot be compared with the past after all.In the first year of Emperor Xizong of Tang Dynasty Guangming (880 A.D.), Huang Chao's uprising army entered the two capitals, and the loss of books was huge.After vigorously purchasing collections, the collection only increased to more than 20,000 volumes.By the time of Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang Dynasty, the secretary had a total of 12 libraries of four books, which increased to more than 70,000 volumes.But at this time, the feudal town was separated, and Sun Weisheng (Chengcheng), the governor of the capital, ordered the army to use the library as the army's barracks and entertainment venues, causing many books to be damaged.In addition, when the capital was moved to Luoyang, half of it was lost. In the end, there were not many books left in the Tang Dynasty.
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms was another period of separatism and melee in China's feudal society. Five dynasties emerged in the Central Plains, and 10 countries were established in the South.Due to political turmoil, the development of book collection was restricted.Hou Liang received less than 10,000 volumes of books from the Tang Dynasty.Less than two months after Zhuangzong Li Cunxu of the Later Tang Dynasty established Luoyang as his capital, he ordered to reward book donations, and even proposed that civilians who donated 300 volumes be "specially awarded examiners", and sent people to Sanchuan (now Chengdu, Sichuan) to collect books. Not many books arrived.In the later Tang Dynasty, the king of Dingzhou Jiedu envoy liked to gather books. At the beginning of the destruction of Liang, he made great efforts to buy books and collected 30,000 volumes.But in the fourth year of Tiancheng in the later Tang Dynasty (929 A.D.), the capital rebelled and was besieged. He set himself on fire and burned himself to ashes together with his collection of books.In the third year of the Kaiyun period of the Later Jin Dynasty (946 A.D.), the Liao army invaded Bianjing (now Kaifeng) and destroyed the Later Jin Dynasty. "From the Central Plains chariots carrying treasures and books to the north", all the books in the Later Jin Dynasty were lost.Li Min (bianbian) of the Southern Tang Dynasty proclaimed himself emperor in 937 AD.He once presided over the Lixian Academy in the state of Wu, gathered thousands of books, and widely asked for and visited books.After proclaiming himself emperor, he still paid attention to the collection of books, and the collection of books in the Southern Tang Dynasty increased.In 975 A.D., when Song soldiers came to Jinling City, the later lord Li Yu ordered Baoyi (female official) Huang, who was in charge of the collection of books and paintings in the palace: "This is my treasure. If the city is not guarded, you can burn it, and don't let it be lost. On the day Jinling fell, the paintings and calligraphy in the Southern Tang Palace were burned!In the battle between the Later Zhou Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, the loss of books was also relatively large.So when the Song Dynasty destroyed the Southern Tang Dynasty, only 20,000 volumes of books were obtained.
Private collections of books in the Sui Dynasty were not common, and those with the largest collections were Xu Shanxin, the secretary of Emperor Wen, Jian Liu, the secretary of Emperor Yang, Liu Zhuo [zhuo table], Liu Xuan and others.
Due to economic prosperity and political stability in the Tang Dynasty, especially the widespread use of paper and the appearance of woodblock printing, the private collection of books in the Tang Dynasty developed greatly, and there were more than 10 bibliophiles with more than 10,000 volumes of books.Most of these bibliophiles were officials, and of course there were many famous scholars among them, such as Yan Shigu, a school scholar in the early Tang Dynasty, who "collected a lot of ancient pictures, utensils, and calligraphy".Wu Jing, a famous historian and famous author, has a collection of more than 13,400 volumes.The bibliographer and historian Wei Shu collected 20,000 volumes of books, and the writer Liu Zongyuan's family collected as many as 3,000 volumes.Li Yuanjia, the eleventh son of Emperor Gaozu in the early Tang Dynasty, King of Han, "gathered thousands of volumes of books, collected inscriptions and historical sites, and got many different copies" ("Old Tang Book·Biography of Gaozu's Twenty-two Sons").In the mid-Tang Dynasty, Li Mi, the Prime Minister of Tang Dezong, had the largest collection of books. He had a collection of more than 30,000 volumes, and most of them were exquisite.Han Yu praised in his poem "Sending Zhuge Jue to Study in Suizhou":
In the late Tang Dynasty, Su Bian had the largest collection of books, with a total of 20,000 volumes. There is a saying that "so far, Su's books are second to Jixian and Migeyan".The bibliophiles at that time cherished their own collections very much. One was because it was not easy to obtain books, especially when engraving and printing were not popular, and each book had to be copied, which was costly and laborious; If you are good, you will be an official", this point was made very clear in the teachings of Li Xiyu, the inspector ambassador of Jiangnan Road in the early Tang Dynasty, to his descendants. He said: "I have ten hectares of land near the capital, which can be used for food; (in the area of Qinyang, Henan today) there are thousands of mulberry trees, silkworms can be used as clothing; books written by Jiangdong can be read to seek officials. After I die, Ercao can do these three things diligently, how can I be envied by others. "("Old Tang Book Biography of Li Xiyu").Because of this, he paid great attention to the collection of books at that time, and did not borrow them easily.For example, Du Siam, who was the supervisory censor of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, taught his descendants to cherish books. He wrote inscriptions on the collection of books: "Qing's salary is written by hand, and the descendants will know the holy teachings after reading it. "(Zhou Hui [hui Hui] "Qingbo Magazine") Since the Tang Dynasty, book collectors generally put their own seals on the books they collect to show their cherishment.Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty wrote "Zhenguan" and ordered people to engrave the two characters "Zhen" and "Guan" in two small seals. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang wrote the word "Kaiyuan" and engraved it into the seal of Kaiyuan. The seal of Hongwen Museum is a special seal for books.
It is particularly worth mentioning that the book collection institution run by the Chen family in Jiangzhou (now De'an County, Jiangxi Province) in the Tang Dynasty - Dongjia Academy, which is the earliest library collection in my country. It is said that there are 4,000 volumes of books.Library books can be borrowed.At that time, the national collection of books was not allowed to be borrowed, and private individuals cherished its collection very much. It is really rare for Dongjia Academy to be so generous.
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